Method of making hinge members



April 4, 1944.

s'. B. ATWOOD I METHOD OF MAKING HINGE MEMBERS Filed Aug. 31, 1940Patented Apr. 4, 1944 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE 2,345,562 METHOD OFMAKING HINGEMEMBERS Seth B. Atwood, Rockford, Ill.

Application August: 31, 1940, Serial No.'354',934

4 Claims.

This invention relates to hinges and is particularly concerned with animproved method of making hinge members.

The improvements of my invention are applied to a hinge member ofvarying width and thick-- to give the hinge blanks certain desiredthick-- nesses at various points along the length thereof, a number ofblanks being thus formed at a time in each strip and the blanks beingcut from the strip after rolling. This method, therefore, enables theproduction of hinge blanks in which the grain runs lengthwise of thepiece to give greater strength and also facilitate production bypermitting bending without danger of weakening the piece, while alsomaking it possible to straighten a bent hinge without danger ofbreakage.

The principal object of my invention is to provide hinge blanks in themanner described, which at some point subsequent to the initial rollingand forming are subjected to heavy pressure edgewl'se and endwise, oneor both, in a coin press so as to give the pintle end portion thedesired increased thickness so that when a pintle hole of conventionalsize is drilled through this portion there will be ample wall thicknessaround the hole for adequate strength. This method, therefore, enablesuse of bar stock of much thinner section than would otherwise berequired while still aifording adequate strength, and means anappreciable saving in cost. When th pressure is applied edgewise, thereis an added advantage from the standpoint that harder and smootherbearing surfaces are produced on the two edges adjacent the upper andlower ends of the pintle hole to give increased durability. Thecompression of the pintle end portion also obviously makes for closergrained metal throughout this portion, and the pintle hole is thereforea much more durable bearing than would otherwise be provided, the closergrain of the metal being also advantageous generally from the standpointof greater strength and rigidity in the most important pintle endportion.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the kind of barstock usedin the production of the present hinge members;

Fig. 2 is a view of the sameportion of bar stock as it appears after theinitial rolling and forming operation; v

Fig. 3 is a side view on a slightly enlarged scale of a portion of oneof the blanks cut from the indicating the-extent of increase inthickness resulting'from the coining, and

Fig. 7 is a. horizontal section through a portion of an automobile bodyand door illustrating a hinge of the type using th hinge members some ofthe steps in the production of which are illustrated in Figs. 1 1:06.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

Referring briefly to Fig. '7 for an understanding of the hinge, I 2designates a portion of the body and- [3 a portion of the door of anautomobile. The hinge shown comprises an outer member I4 and an innermember l5 mountedon the body and door respectively. The outer member I4is formed from sheet metal to a generally U-shaped cross-section so asto 'provide opposed substantially horizontal parallel walls, the lowerone of which appears at I6 interconnected by a substantially verticalwall [1. The horizontal walls have embossed portions l8 forming supportsfor the pintle l9 received in a bearinghole 20 provided therefor in theenlarged end portion 2| of theinner-hinge member 15. The walls It arealso flanged outward-1y as at 22 to provide attaching portionsforlbolting, riveting, or otherwise securing the outer hinge member I4to the body pillar, a portion of which appears at 23. A sheet metalfaceplate. 24 suitably welded to the attaching portions 22 is cut awayas at 25 to provide operating clearance for the inner hinge member 15.The inner hinge member l5 has an offset portion 26 next to its attachingend portion Z'I-Where it extends through the cut-out portion 25 of theplate 24, whereby to provide operating clearances 'for the gooseneckportion 28 when the door closes. The gooseneck portion 28 is next to theofiset portion 26, and its radius is long enough so that the portion 38clears the body pillar in the opening of the door. The pintle endportion 21 provided on the other half of the gooseneck portion 28 isapproximately at right angles to the attaching end portion 27, and thedoor I3 is accordingly free to swing through approximately 90 fromclosed to open position. Now, it can easily be seen by inspection of theinner hinge member I5 in Fig. 7 that it is desired to have the attachingportion 21 wide and of relatively thin section so as to provideproportionately broader surface engagement with the door to which it issecured. On the other hand, it is desirable to have the pintle endportion of narrower and thicker section, the thickened sectionpermitting provision of a pintle bearing hole 20 of large enoughdiameter without reducing the wall thickness around the bearing hole totoo great an extent. tween the attaching portion 21 and the pintle endportion 2| is preferably of gradually increasing thickness outwardly andgradually increasing width inwardly, as indicated in Figs. 3 and "7.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 4, 3| designates the steel bar stock fromwhich B blanks are produced by rolling and forming between rollers inthe manner illustrated in Tierney Patent 2,235,241, one of the rollershaving a plain periphery so as to leave the blanks fiat on one side, atindicated at 32 in Fig. 2, while the other roller is profiled orcam-shaped to conform to the shape of the other side 33 of the blanks tobe produced, the rollers in one instance having cam surfaces for theformation of five blanks in each turn. The bar 3| has a cross-sectionapproximately the same as the pintle end portion 2|a of the blank, asshown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, prior to the coining operation whichproduces the final thickness of the pintle end portion 2| of the inner;

hinge member l5, shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7. The attaching end portion21 of the blank, however,

is much thinner and wider and is given that,

form by pressure between the rollers. The intermediate portions of theblanks between the ends 2| a and 21 are of varying thickness and width,

the blank decreasing in width but increasing inthickness gradually fromthe attaching end portion toward the pintle end portion 2|a. The rollingand forming operation is done hot and the blanks are cut from the bar byshearing the same transversely at the points 34. In some instances theattaching end portions 21 will re-.

quire milling off along the longitudinal edges to square them up andalso get down to the desired width to fit the hinge seats on theautomobile door. The extremities of the end portions 21' will ordinarilyalso require milling off square to bring the blank down to the desiredlength. Such trimming operations are simple and inexpensive. The blankis then bent transversely between dies to give the pintle end portionthe desired angularity and lateral offset as shown in Fig. 7.

The coining operation may precede or followthe bending operation, butpreferably follows.

The section be-v sure. The pintle hole 29 is then drilled through thecompressed and thickened end portion 2| of the blank on a line directlyat right angles to the parallel top and bottom bearing surfaces 35 and36. *As previously indicated, the pressure on the end 31a may bedispensed with, and preferably is, because sufiicient increase inthickness can ordinarily be obtained by the edgewise compression alone.

The advantage derived by the coining operation are manifold. First ofall, it enables use of bar stock 3| of less thickness than would otherwise be required and that, of course, means an appreciable saving incost of production. The increased thickness results in increasedstrength at the point where the greatest strains are con- In the coiningoperation pressure is applied to the longitudinal edges a and 36a and onthe end 31a, as indicated by the arrows P in Fig. 5, to compress thepintle end portion to the reduced width and length indicated at 35, 36,and 31 in Figs. 5 and 6, the compression causing not only the flatteninginto true parallelism of the top and bottom surfaces 35 and 36 but alsoan appreciable increase in thickness throughout the pintle end portion,asmost clearly appears from acomparison of Figs. 4 and 6. The edgeportions of the blank are sheared by the coin j press dies at thepoints38 as the dies are moved toward each other, under extremely heavypres- 7 centrated in the operation of the hinge. The compressionedgewise illustrated in Fig. 5, in addition to giving the desired resultof added wall thickness at 39 around the pintle hole 20, results inharder and smoother top and bottom bearing surfaces 35 and 36, while atthe same time producing still closer grained metal around the bearinghole 2% so that the pintle bearing will have greatly increasedresistance to wear. The initial rolling operation results in compactedgrain throughout the length of the blank with resultant increasedstrength. The fact that the grain runs lengthwise is also very importantbecause it permits bending without danger of weakening the piece, aswell as making it possible to straighten a bent hinge without danger of.

breakage. The bending of the hinge member IE to the final form shown inFig. 7 results in work hardness and as a result the hinge member isstiffer and i not as apt to sag and take a set in bent form. A furtherimportant advantage in the initial roll evident from an inspection ofFig.-

2 comes from the fact that the grain is not only compacted at thevicinity of the pintle hole 25, but the grain actually is curved aroundthe pintle hole, thus greatly increasing the resistance to wear. Thecloser grain in the metal resulting from the edgewise and endwisecompression, or edgewise compression alone, also makes for great-,

tom walls it of the outer hinge member I4 are spaced far enough apart toafiord clearance for the gooseneck portion 28 which is of unreducedwidth, whereas the embossed portions I8 have their bearing surfaces 40closer together and arranged either to contact the top and bottombearing surfaces 35 and 36 directly with ordinary operating clearance orspacing washers may be provided between the hinge members at one or bothends of the pintle, as desired. In either event the smooth hardenedbearing surfaces 35 J and 36 on the inner hinge member l5 make forincreased resistance to wear and proportionately increase the life ofthe hinge.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of m invention. The appended claims have beendrawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. The method 01' makin hinge members which consists in subjecting a barof rectangular crosssection to a combination rolling and formingoperation, whereby to form "from a single bar a plurality of connectedblank portions having the grain running lengthwise of all of said blankportions each blank portion as a result of the rolling operation havingincreased width and decreased thickness at one end, and intermediatethicknesses and widths intermediate the ends, and substantially theoriginal width and thickness of the bar at the other end, then cuttingthe blanks from the bar, then compressing a short length of the lastnamed end portion edgewise so as to reduce the width of said portion butincrease the thickness appreciably above that of the original bar, andfinally drilling a pintle hole crosswise in said thickened end portion.

2. The method of making hinge members which consists in subjecting a barof rectangular crosssection to a combination rolling and formingoperation, whereby to form from a single bar a plurality of connectedblank portions having the grain runnin lengthwise of all of said blankportions each blank portion as a result of the rolling operation havingincreased width and decreased thickness at one end, and intermediatethicknesses and widths intermediate the ends, and substantially theoriginal width and thickness of the barfat the other end, then cuttingthe blanks from the bar, then compressing a short length otthe lastnamed end portion edgewise and endwise so as to reduce the width of saidportion but increase the thickness appreciably above that of theoriginal bar, and finally drilling a pintle hole crosswise in saidthickened end portion.

3. The method of making hinge members which consist in subjecting a barof rectangular crosssection to a combination rolling and formingoperation, whereby to form from a single bar a plurality of connectedblank portions having the grain running lengthwise of all of said blankportions each blank portion as a result of the rolling operation havingincreased width and decreased thickness at one end, and intermediatethicknesses and widths intermediate the ends, and substantially theoriginal width and thickness of the bar at the other end, then cuttingthe blanks from the bar, then compressing a short length of the lastnamed end portion edgewise between substantially parallel dies so as toflatten the longitudinal edge portions contacted and thereby providesubstantially parallel broad flat bearing surfaces on the hinge memberhardened by reason of the local compacting of the grain, while at thesame time decreasing the overall width of said end portion andincreasing the overall thickness appreciably above that of the originalbar, and finall drilling a pintle hole crosswise in said thickened endportion.

4. The method of making hinge members which consists in subjecting a barof rectangular crosssection to a combination rolling and formingoperation, whereby to form from a single bar a plurality of connectedblank portions having the grain running lengthwise of all of said blankportions each blank portion as a result of the rolling operations havinincreased width and decreased thickness at one end, and intermediatethicknesses and widths intermediate the ends, and substantially theoriginal width and thickness of the bar at the other end, then cuttingthe blanks from the bar, then compressing a short length of the lastnamed end portion endwise and also compressing said portion edgewisebetween substantially parallel dies so as to flatten the longitudinaledge portions contacted and thereby provide substantially parallel broadfiat bearing surfaces on the hinge member hardened by reason of thelocal compacting of the grain, while at the same time decreasing theoverall width of said end portion and increasing the overall thicknessappreciably above that of the original bar, and finally drilling apintle hole crosswise in said thickened end portion.

SETH B. ATWOOD.

